How Russian cyber fraudsters launder money using Airbnb

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According to the new report The Daily Beast, Russian criminals and cyber thieves are increasingly being used airbnbas a way of money laundering.

This is certainly not news, but airbnb It provides a seemingly easy way for criminals to turn dirty money into (at first glance) legal.

The principle of operation of the circuit is quite simple. Criminals work in collusion with real estate owners on airbnbwhich is often found on online forums.

There is a reservation of real estate and paid for with a stolen credit card through airbnb, even if nobody really stopped there. Further interest from the payment is sent back to the offender. Another twist in the scheme is that some criminals create their own accounts airbnb or even buy hacked accounts online. Thus, they are trying to give even greater legitimacy to transactions.

In general, this is another way to withdraw money from stolen credit cards. In other cases, fraudsters can buy electronic goods, such as iPhones, with the help of stolen cards and then resell them at a profit. This is the same idea of ​​money laundering, only with airbnbThe article says.

The report states, in particular:

“Money is 50/50,” one apparent scammer wrote on a Russian crime forum in August. “You receive your money within two days of your booking date.”

Representative airbnb said the site uses a number of security measures to prevent such behavior.

“We have a real-time detection system that assesses in advance the risks of each reservation to airbnb, said an Airbnb spokesperson. — When we are notified of suspicious credit card activity, we use 3D-Secure to check whether the credit card is being used by its owner and the level of risk associated with the transaction is assessed. ”

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